The present invention relates to packet format converters (PFCs).
Many components, such as intellectual property (IP) components, that process packets can only process packets if they are formatted in a particular way. If a packet to be processed by a component is not in the required format, it must be converted into the required format. One way to accomplish this is to specifically design a PFC that converts packets from one format to another required format. This would typically require the system designer to hand write hardware description language (HDL) code as part of the design process. Disadvantages of this method include the following. First, a specifically designed PFC is applicable for only converting packets of one specific format into packets of another specific format. In other words, the specifically designed PFC lacks flexibility. Second, this design process is typically slow and time consuming since, as noted above, the system designer must typically hand write HDL code as part of designing the PFC.